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St. Paul Park BNSF Railway has idled its controversial car exchange facility proposal. BNSF representatives told St. Paul Park, Grey Cloud Island, Cottage Grove, Newport and Washington County staff and officials Monday morning that they are putting plans on hold for 2017 construction of the storage lot near the St. Paul Park-Grey Cloud Island border. BNSF contacted South Washington County Schools officials and planned to meet with them later in the week.

Washington County With almost half of its $1.1 million fundraising goal, the Youth Service Bureau is beginning a process of program expansion starting in Cottage Grove. Executive Director Bob Sherman said they started the effort to collect grants last August, and in that time $695,000 has been donated or pledged. The Otto Bremer Trust awarded the bulk of the newfound funds with a $200,000 grant and another $200,000 match for funds raised in 2017. The Youth Service Bureau is a quarter of the way toward the matching grant with a $50,000 3M donation.

Cottage Grove Recent Park High School graduate Tyler Thompson wanted to give his cats a taste of the good life, so he developed Koop Brand. Though several other products will debut in 2017, the current products concentrate on natural, organic catnip — called Katmint — and goods and apparel for the cat owners. Thompson says it's a "lifestyle brand" more than anything. "It's designed more for the relationship between cat and owner, and that's something unique in the market," he said. "They're all-natural products to give cats and humans a better life."

Election 2016 Legislative candidates focused on a question about mental health when they met last week in a Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce candidate forum. District 54 Senate candidates Dan Schoen and Leilani Holmstadt, District 54A House candidates Jen Peterson and Keith Franke and District 54B candidate Tony Jurgens participated in the Thursday forum. District 54B House candidate Don Slaten, a Hastings DFLer, could not attend due to the death of his father the night before the forum.

Afton Apple Orchard has been honoring first responders this fall. For its fifth weekend, Afton Apple's corn maze will host and honor local EMS, fire and police departments. Corn maze paths spell out "thank your local heroes," and the orchard held meet-and-greets and other events with officers. "They were really excited to do that, and I was excited that they would come out to our corn maze," Afton Apple manager Sarah Parkos said. Parkos said they featured four local departments this year: Woodbury, Hastings, Cottage Grove and Washington County.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation will help with frustrating Interstate 494 commutes in 2018. Improvements are being designed to help alleviate westbound stacking on the Wakota Bridge by continuing the...

After the Temporary Family Health Care Dwelling law was passed this spring by the state Legislature, many cities in the metro area are considering opting out. The statute allows families to place a “drop home” — a mobile residential dwelling less than 300 square feet in size — onto their property, so long as they pay $100 for the permit and connect water, electricity and sewer to the dwelling. The building must be mobile and have been built elsewhere.

There were 2,630 traffic crashes in Washington County last year, with only one fatality in Cottage Grove and none in Woodbury, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s 2015 Crash Facts report released June 30.